TOURIST ATTRACTION: The newly competed Rumah Betang Adat in Pontianak.
PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan: A six-hectare Kampung Dayak is set to be the latest landmark in the West Kalimantan (Kalbar) capital city of Pontianak.
Dewan Adat Dayak (DAD) Kalbar advisor Thadeus Yus said the site has been identified while funds are now being raised to get the project started.
Once completed, he said the Kampung Dayak will complement the recently completed Rumah Betang Adat, which is reputed as the biggest Dayak cultural house in the world, and the old Rumah Betang Adat which is known for its elaborate Dayak motifs.
“We calculated the cost for the Kampung Dayak to be in the region of 40 billion rupiah (RM1.2 million).
“Unlike the two Rumah Betang which were funded and built by the government, the Dayak Village is a project by the DAD Kalbar aimed as the referral centre to learn about the more than 100 Dayak sub-groups in this province,” he said.
Thadues, a lecturer at Universitas Tanjungpura and former chairman of DAD Kalbar from 2006 to 2010, told the media this during a welcoming dinner for the 70-member delegation from the Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) during their four-day visit to Kalbar.
He said DAD Kalbar now manages the old Rumah Betang Adat, a longhouse-like structure built by the government in the 1980s to promote Dayak culture and arts.
A cafeteria selling Dayak dishes has been set up there to help DAD raise funds for the Kampung Dayak project, he added.
Meanwhile, SDNU delegates were impressed with the new and old Rumah Betang Adat in Pontianak and expressed their wish for Sarawak to have similar buildings.
The new Rumah Betang Adat was launched on July 2 by Kalbar governor Drs Cornelis MH, who is also the current DAD Kalbar chairman.
Built at a cost of 20 billion rupiah (RM600,000), the longhouse structure stands at seven metres high and 138 metres wide on a 1.4-metre site.
The main hall can accommodate 600.
The design of the building symbolises Dayak unity and togetherness in the province.
There are plans to extend the site to 3.2 ha with the construction of a Plaza Budaya.
Popular Iban singer from Sarawak, Ricky El, was among the performers for the launching ceremony, which also coincided with the 28th Gawai Dayak celebration in Kalbar.